20.Jan.2009 The Provision of God
Matthew 6:25-31 (NLT) 25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
On the issue of priorities, we need to understand that God cares about our lives. In the Christian world, people go to extremes. Some people believe everything will drop out of thin air if they put enough faith into the moment. Other people will fall to the influence of the world and spend beyond their means in order to impress the world. Suddenly, people are in trouble financially because they chased after the wants and needs of the world. Then their is the crowd of people who believe it is pious to live a life of poverty. They don’t want anything. All of these mindsets are very, very human. But you see, we are trying to move out of the human mindset and move to the God mindset.
Here is the truth. God doesn’t care about your stuff. He is concerned about your heart. When Jesus spoke these words, He was addressing a group of people who were more concerned with the outward appearance that they forgot the heart. They strove for the praise and acceptance of the world by getting all the right stuff. Jesus was saying that He did not care about all your stuff. If you want that stuff, He can get it for you–He will provide all you need–but it is not important to Him. The only thing He is concerned with is your heart.
The end of the passage says, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” God doesn’t mind you wanting things. He wants to be the one to GIVE IT to you. He wants you to give Him everything first, and then He will give it back. But what if God doesn’t give you the thing you want? What if He doesn’t give you the big house or the fancy car or the designer clothes? Will you give up? Or will you serve? When God gives you the thing you want, it is way different than what you thought you wanted. When we scheme to get things, it gets complicated. We try to make things happen. God says, “Na ah. You, sit down. I’ll do it.”
This is a passage about losing control. God wants you to relinquish control of your life. That is a frightening thing! God wants you to trust Him and to let go of control. God knows better than we do what is best for us. We give our lives to Him, and He will add stuff back to us. This is one of the things that separate the fans of God from the friends of God. Jesus said, “You are no longer my servants, you are my friends.” God wants friends. The fans keep their stuff together on the outside. Jesus said, “Let’s forget about the outside and get things right on the inside.” Friends of God allow Him in. If you have to keep doing things on the outside to prove your righteousness to the world, you missed it.
Let’s prioritize. On the first Sunday of the year, let’s put God first. At the beginning of the year, people come back to God. They’ve lived a rough life or have gone through a tough time, and they cry out to God for help. He sends people to help and bring these people into the House. Sometimes it takes a crisis to come to Christ. So, these people come into the House and like it, but it is hard for them to get into the grove of putting God first. It is not a habit for them…yet. Now, your salvation does not depend on your church attendance, but your spiritual growth absolutely depends on your church attendance. It is the first day of the week. You put God first in your week by coming to church. Sunday represents new life and a refreshing of your world that trickles down through the week. The fact that we give it to God is an incredible habit to incorporate into your life.
You can put God first in your finances by giving ten percent of your income in tithe. You can put God first in your relationships by having God’s love in the midst of every relationship you have. Both of these are habits you develop. Love casts out fear; fear manifests in bitterness or (to an extreme) hatred. With love in your heart, these things cannot creep in or rob you. Putting God first by loving people and telling them “I love you!” will make your life thrive. Life is dependent on the people we love and are connected to and who we allow to speak into our lives. When your heart connects to someone, there is a transaction. A connection is made, a powerful one, that will change your life. Connect to people who are going the same way as you, who are Kingdom people, and who share your vision. No one can be super-Christian on their own. Heart connections give strength and support. The Bible says to guard your heart, for out of it flow the issues of the world. Heart connections influence everything for good or ill. All relationships are a heart connection.
Putting God first might mean you prioritizing your heart connections, which ultimately comes back to connecting to God’s House. The world is not the primary source for relationship–though we love the world and strive to reach it. Fellowship and connection are key in our church. It is too easy to get connected in this place. Who you connect with matters. Make God a priority in the people you share a heart connection with.
John 4:35 (NLT) 35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.
What a powerful principle; what an amazing truth. Jesus alludes to the possibility that the way you see things in a natural sense don’t have to be that way. Don’t say that their is a specific time to go out and work. Now is the time. The thing that you can see with your natural eyes does not have to be that way. We can look at the circumstances and live differently; circumstances don’t have to dictate our world. Do not say recession equals poverty. Do not say the market’s bad. Do not say that there is four months and then the harvest. Lift up your eyes. There is another place to look–other than your bank account, paycheck, or job–for provision. Look up and see something different. Look up to God and see the possibilities. Shield your heart with faith and lift up your eyes and see that it is ripe for harvest. In the natural, there is no provision; in God’s world, there is more than enough. By putting God first and making Jesus the preeminent power in your life, your world will change this year. You will begin to see what God sees. Put God first and see the possibilities.
